A few types of joint actuation mechanisms for prosthetic or orthotic devices are known in the art and include joint actuation mechanisms. Usually, powered joint mechanisms form part of an orthotic device or a prosthetic device and include a housing for an actuator comprising a motor and a shaft in communication with a reducer which communicates with an output to cause the joint to rotate about an axis thereof.
A drawback of known joint actuation mechanisms include important electrical energy input to operate, affecting the autonomy of the device and requiring important battery capacity thereby affecting the weight of the device. Another drawback of know joint actuation mechanisms is that they are heavy and voluminous, directly affecting the weight and size of the device.
Some drawbacks of known knee actuation mechanisms is that they do not provide real-time direct measurement of the torque and do not demonstrate compliance in any locomotion situation, consequently the prosthetic or orthotic device to which they are mounted does not smoothly respond to the commands of a user, to unexpected events nor does it easily adapt to the specific gait style of a user.
Still another drawback of conventional powered joint actuation mechanisms is that they are relatively noisy as causing embarrassment to the user in relatively quiet social settings.